Sunday, 25 March 2012

Activists from the ZSP and the Tenants' Defence Committee strongly condemned the policies of the government and the city of Warsaw during a press conference dedicated to the increasing number of evictions to be expected in light of the upcoming end of the protection period on March 31.

There is no perspective for millions of families that cannot afford to buy a flat or to rent one at the commercial rates. In addition, the government has made the eviction process easier. After March 31 (the end of the protection period), people can be thrown out onto the street without the need to give them replacement housing. This is one of the reasons why we will be demonstrating in Warsaw on March 31 against the antisocial policies of the government.

The activists also stressed that the city's policies are leading to a greater problem with homelessness and this has lead to an increase in occupying empty housing. Mainly these are not open squats but flats which people have just quietly moved into, mostly in unused municipal housing. The activists from ZSP said that they intend to help everyone who has no roof over their head and decide to take matters into their own hands.

Members of both groups said that they will be present at a demonstration in defense of the evited squat Elba. They however criticized the media, which wrote a lot about evictions of cultural places but often ignore the dramatic situations of other residents of Warsaw. For example, last week there was another attempt to evict people in Ursynow which was no less brutal than at the squat, also using security thugs helped by the police, but the media did not react to that. They do not pay much attention to the scores of evictions happening every day, often breaking the law.

In the end the activists urged people to actively resist the policies of the city and to take part in demonstrations like the one on March 31.